An important current policy debate concerns whether the next U.S. federal surface transportation reauthorization should require spending on “enhancements,” which finance projects such as walkways, bike paths, highway landscaping and historic preservation. This issue receives considerable attention, despite the fact that enhancements represent less than 2% of total federal surface transportation expenditures, because it raises questions about future transport priorities, particularly the role of walking and cycling. In other words, should non-motorized modes be considered real transportation.
Walking
New Report Ranks Top Cities and States for Bicycling and Walking
A new report ranks all 50 states and the 51 largest American cities in terms of bicycling and walking levels, safety, funding, and other factors.
Alliance for Biking and Walking
How To Retrofit The Suburbs to Increase Walking
Researchers look at the largely suburban South Bay area of Los Angeles to offer ways to retrofit auto-oriented suburbs for more pedestrian travel.
Access
Does Living in a Poor Neighborhood Harm Your Health?
A study conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the 1990s found that living in poor neighborhoods can actually hurt your health.
TheCityFix.com
Cyclists, Pedestrians, and Drivers Clash
With over 8 million people sharing the streets and sidewalks of New York City, there is bound to be a clash between transportation modes. Who's to blame? Lyndsey Scofield says that there is bad behavior on all sides.
This Big City
Would People Drive Less if Cities Were Built Differently?
Dr. Marlon Boarnet, a professor in UC Irvine's Dept. of Planning, Policy and Design, has based his research around that question and has some answers.
YouTube
A Neighborhood of Stairs
The La Independencia neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia sprawls up a hillside, leaving the inhabitants to walk up to 10 flights of stairs every day. An ambitious development program is considering building an outdoor network of escalators.
TheCityFix.com
Urban Development Shifts Reduce Driving
The patterns of urban development over the past few decades have pushed more and more people into cars by necessity. But as design priorities change, so are people's walking and driving habits.
Sierra
U.S. Builds Roads That Kill Pedestrians
A new report from Transportation for America says that more than half of pedestrian fatalities happen on arterial roads that lack ped-friendly design - and therefore are preventable.
Streetsblog Capitol Hill
The Most Walkable Cities In U.S., And Why
Cities of all population sizes were ranked by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Key to top-rated Seattle was its management of parking. 19 cities were cited from throughout the country.
The Atlantic Magazine
Best World Cities for Walkers
This slideshow from Grist takes a tour of the top ten cities in the world for walking.
Grist
Road Rage for Pedestrians
Some researchers say that crowded sidewalks in cities like New York are contributing to "sidewalk rage".
CBS
A Very Thorough Understanding of a City's Streets
One woman in Lansing, Michigan has started a walking mission to explore and document every stretch of street in her city -- a total of more than 400 miles.
Lansing State Journal
Reasons to be Nice to Pedestrians
Anthony Flint offers this list of the top ten reasons to be nice to pedestrians in 2011.
The Boston Globe
The Web of Walkability
Steve Mouzon visually documents his walkable day-to-day life, and all the places he can get to regularly on foot from his house.
The Original Green
What Would it Take to Ditch Your Car?
A conversation series from the National Trust for Historic Preservation asks what it would take for people to ditch their cars and rely solely on walking, cycling and public transportation.
Glass House Conversations
Why Kids Can't and Won't Walk to School in Laguna Beach
Getting kids to walk to school has been a nationwide campaign for years. But some places say it's just not safe. Some urban forms -- like that of Laguna Beach, California -- prove it.
NRDC Switchboard
If You Build It, They Won't Walk
Trails and walking paths are commonly built in suburban areas. But their mere presence doesn't automatically mean they'll be used, according to a new study.
Miller-McCune
Multi-Modal Level-Of-Service Goes Mainstream: Chickens Can Finally Cross Roads
Wed, 09/22/2010 - 20:52
Why didn’t the chicken cross the road?
Because pedestrian Level-Of-Service was below “C”.
Pedestrianism a World Cup Legacy in Cape Town
Pedestrianism is on the rise in Cape Town, South Africa, where the recent World Cup has inspired more citizens to get out of their cars and put their feet on the street.
The Christian Science Monitor
